US vows to monitor spending of $32.8m COVID-19 support given to Nigeria

The United States of America has spent $32.8m to support Nigeria’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria and has vowed to monitor the spending.

The US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, said the country has put in place mechanisms to monitor and ensure judicious utilisation of the $32.8m financial aid provided to help Nigeria in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and surveillance to block diversion of the funds.

Related articles

Ambassador Leonard also said there was nothing unusual with the current evacuation of American citizens in Nigeria, noting that many of them only wanted to reunite with their families having exhausted their short stay in Nigeria.

The US envoy who expressed satisfaction with the response of the Federal Government to the COVID-19 pandemic assured that more financial and technical support would be provided to the Federal Government in the fight against COVID-19.

The US government after donating ventilators to Nigeria also has a very robust presence of the US Centre for Disease Control (CDS) and the US Aids (USAID) working closely with the Nigerian authorities to transform the country’s COVID-19 response. Asked on whether the US plans to support Nigeria with the COVID-19 drug, Remdesivir, which was said to have been developed in the US, she said the medication is still undergoing a lot of experimentation and clinical study.

“We are very pleased to be making these commitments to Nigeria. We are very eager to collaborate on measures for curing, mitigating and preventing the spread of the virus,” she said